SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter, at a glance

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in mathematics from Yale University; law degree from Harvard Law School.

FAMILY: Married to Ronald Alan Stern, two children.

CAREER: Lawyer in private practice; joined staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1977, worked in Division of Corporation Finance and Office of the General Counsel; deputy director of SEC's Division of Corporation Finance; became general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 1994; senior executive vice president for regulatory policy and programs at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, formerly NASD; appointed SEC commissioner in July 2008; designated SEC chairman by President Barack Obama to begin in December 2012.